Royal Bank of Scotland has failed to process some 600,000 payments, including disability allowances and tax credits, in the latest tech scandal to hit the state-controlled bank. The seismic blunder is believed to be the result of a computer problem.

Customers still awaiting
their payments include those of Ulster Bank and NatWest, both of
which are managed by RBS. Clients based at RBS’s high-end Coutts
bank, where elite figures including the Queen do their banking,
were also affected by the error.

Tech failures are a sensitive topic for RBS, following an IT
meltdown in 2011 which left over 6 million customers without
access to their bank accounts. The bank was later fined £56 million
and its then-CEO was forced to forgo his annual
bonus.It has
since doled out millions on upgrading its computer
systems.

RBS direct banking boss admits he charges customers £6 for
missed payment but 'wouldn't be appropriate' to give customers
£6 for its failure

The latest tech scandal to hit RBS first surfaced online after an
official spokesperson for the bank tweeted: “Some customer
payments are missing this morning – we are investigating this
issue as a matter of urgency.” The spokesperson advised
customers in need of urgent funds to contact RBS.

Customers concerned about their finances took to Twitter to air
their fears and anger. Many were worried about vital payments not
being made in time. Among these was Johanna Lawson, who told RBS
her monthly grocery delivery from Asda was canceled due to her
account lacking funds.

600,000 missing payments - another financial sector failure. We
need banks that are like basic utilities, not casinos http://t.co/gTi32xU8SR

Another customer, Dr Sharon Connor, complained she didn’t receive
her payment from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as
expected.

An RBS spokeswoman stressed the payments were not missing, but
merely delayed. She told the Guardian that the tech issue that
caused the delays has been rectified and customers will not lose
funds as a result of the error.

“We are aware of an issue which has resulted in a delay to
payments and direct debits being applied to some customer
accounts,” she said.

“We have fixed the underlying issue, we apologize for the
inconvenience caused and we are working flat out to get these
payments updated for our customers no later than Saturday.”

Many British banks are thought to be supported by outmoded
computer infrastructure. Lloyds and Nationwide are among UK
lenders to have also had tech problems in recent years, with
Nationwide’s customers hit with week-long payment delays earlier
this week.